It hurts, a lot.

'Who would have thought launching a bullet at 600m/s from your hand could break all your fingers' I cursed inwardly as the doctor was wrapping cast over my fingers. 

"They should heal in a day" The doctor said.

I nodded and walked out of the infirmary.

'I will just use a gun next time' 

I wasn't going to discard this new spell which I named [Railgun] since its mana cost was about 15 times lower than an average [Lightning spear]. Though its destructive power was much lower [Lightning spear], its penetrating power was a close match for it.

Only downside was I needed bullets or conductive materials to use it. Although if I wanted to use it with my hands ever again, I must remember to reinforce my hand with mana before I do so. After all, I wouldn't want to break all my fingers in the middle of a fight.

---

***

December 21^st, year 783 of the Imperial calendar

My training continued.

My progress with the sword was steady. The same could not be said for magic though. It took me 2 months of constant meditating just to be able to move space mana, and another month to be able to actually concentrate it. I learned to focus time mana around the same time since I was trying to learn the 2 elements simultaneously. 

Unlike every other elements, Space and Time were special.

Everyone who have affinity with either of those elements could only use 1 space or time spell. Yes, 1 spell, and it's decided from birth.

Status won't even tell you what the spell is so you will have to find out what it is by concentrating and releasing space or time mana in different ways. Although, the majority of people with Space magic either have the [Storage] spell, which was the most common, or the [Teleport] spell, which was slightly less common.

For the Time element, almost everyone with that affinity have the [Hasten] or [Preserve] spell, which only affect non-intelligent life forms and inanimate objects. Thus, the Time element is most commonly used for agriculture and food preservation.

Well, unluckily for me, neither my Space nor my Time spell was any of those. As such, I was stuck with figuring out what my spells were.

Although, I really lucked out with my space spell. When I was infusing my sword with mana for training just like every other days, I accidently concentrated space mana instead of lightning mana and swung the sword.

Instead of a normal swing, however, the slash tore open a rift in space. That's when the translucent blue screen popped up and told me that I've unlocked my Space magic: [Dimensional]

Basically, by infusing sharp weapons with sufficient amount of space mana, I can open rifts to various nearby planes of existence.

As of now, I could only go to 2 other planes.

I called the first one [Alternate world]. It basically was a copy of this world. The only difference is that there were no living organisms. Although there were no living creatures, changes to inanimate objects in my original dimension will be projected to the alternate plane. Consequently, I could know where someone is in my dimension even when I'm inside this plane since the plane allows me to see living things as clumps of mana.

The second plane was... basically the [Storage] spell. I very (un)creatively named it [Alternate storage] since it was my alternative to the [Storage] spell. The plane was rectangular and had clear boundaries. I measured it, it looked like the like the inside of a 100x100x100 meters cube. And time also flows slower in this dimension.

As such, I used it to store things. Unfortunately though, any living organisms that enters the plane will get ejected after only 5 seconds.

I wasn't as lucky with Time magic since I still haven't figured out what my time spell was.

In regards to my [C - Magic eyes of fear], I've learned how to control it, somewhat.

I could completely deactivate it or amplify its effects now. Though I have to constantly concentrate to do so. Thus, I still wore the sunglasses because there was no way in hell I'm going to consciously control it all day.

My other skill, [F - Mana blood] was more useful than I thought.

I could not control other's blood, which was a bummer. I could, however, control my own blood by manipulating the mana in it. As it turned out, my spells were a lot stronger when I used my blood as a catalyst. I could also harden my blood into a crystalline structure, which made my blood much sharper than a normal sword.

Thus, to utilize the skill to the fullest, I subjected myself to the masochistic training of cutting my left palm. It was the safest way I could think of to extract blood from my body on the fly.

Of course, I also made several blood vials for use. Well, I needed to raise my pain tolerance anyways so I decided to go through with the training. It ended pretty badly, as I completely forgot about infection. My left palm was basically rotting after only 2 days. Thus, I need to carry around disinfectants whenever I do the training.

My blood also has another interesting property. Apparently, I could still manipulate it even after it's not in contact with me. So, in theory, I could smear my blood all over the fighting ground and attack the opponent from various directions.

---

***

Focusing on the present, I have to deal with a problem, viscount Nightshade's assassination. I knew nothing about her assassination except that it would happen in December of the year 783.

Well, I was aware of another detail.

Although Irene Nightshade had to fight with 4 B ranked assassins at a time, she could still have won due to her overflowing battle experience and her strength boost during the night. However, the situation vastly changed when some weaker assassins captured Krista as a hostage. Irene, wanting to save her only daughter, decide to let them kill her in exchange for Krista's life.

Since the assassins only took the contract to kill Irene, they kept their words and left Krista alone.

Although I vowed to not interfere much with the story, it couldn't be helped if I ⌊accidently⌉ got involved with the assassination plot and ⌊had to⌉ defend myself from the assassins that were targeting Krista.

It would be ⌈very unfortunate⌋ if that were to happen because I'd have to think of another way to hitch Krista with the protagonist.

I requested Krista to let me sleep in her room, the excuse being...

"Hey, I've been getting nightmares recently. Can you let me sleep in your room?"

"Uh huh? Sure?"

She accepted. I couldn't believe she was so gullible.

'I will have a talk with her after all of this is over', I thought. What if  I had bad intentions towards her? She shouldn't let people sleep in the same room as her, especially when their excuse was as flimsy as mine.

Well, I'm not complaining though since it meant I wouldn't have to resort to blackmailing to force her to allow me to sleep in her room.

Thus, I started sleeping with her since the start of the month. It had been 21 days, but I haven't been doing nothing.

I faked traces of scouting and infiltrating around the mansion. Well, my plans worked as the security around the mansion was raised, and Irene Nightshade looked more vigilant now.

Thanks to not knowing the exact timing of the attack, I have been basically staying awake during the night for the past 21 days. Since I was at G rank, I wasn't that physically affected. But I sure was very mentally drained.

Dusk broke on the 21st day of December, 783. 

I was awake as usual, being warily of my surroundings. That's when I sensed several presences coming towards the room I'm in. Krista seemed to have noticed it too since she jolted up, and was looking at me for confirmation.

I nodded my head, before readying myself for the tough battle to come.

---

***

Krista was worried about Theodore, her brother.

He had been acting very strange lately. The start of it was when he asked her to let him sleep in her room with the excuse of having nightmare. Well, she didn't buy it, obviously. But she thought that her brother just wanted to be with her that badly so she agreed to his request.

That's when things got strange. As the days gone by, reports of infiltrating and scouting traces around the mansion had been coming up. Well, Krista and her mother quickly found out that Theodore was responsible for it. Although if not for her mother's superior tracking skills, they wouldn't have noticed that Theodore was behind it.

'It doesn't seem like a prank' Krista thought as she considered the efforts Theodore had put into making the traces believable. He wasn't even the type to do pranks in the first place. Rather, he was the kind that got annoyed by them.

Viscount Nightshade seemed to have come to the same conclusion as Krista as she heightened security and became more cautious.

'Although, it was amusing seeing him trying to act surprised whenever new traces are found' Krista thought.

Theodore's acting was terrible, but Krista had no plans to tell him about it. 

What was very alarming was that Theodore actually stayed up for multiple nights in a row! Though he could go without sleeping for a few weeks, Krista knew that he wasn't the type to pass up on sleeping.

Whatever it was that kept him awake, it must have been serious, as he heightened his sense every nights and looked overly anxious at the slightest of noises.

'It's not like he's aware of an assassination plot or anything, right?'

Krista had just unknowingly jinxed herself, as on the 21st of December, 783, assassins infiltrated the Nightshade mansion.

Krista immediately noticed something was amiss when she sensed several unfamiliar presences approaching her room. Theodore was already awake by then, nodding at Krista, telling her to get ready for combat.

'So this is what kept him awake this past month' Krista thought.

Theodore then took out a long sword from his [Alternate storage]

"Stay on the bed" Theodore whispered. "Pretend that you haven't noticed them" He continued.

Krista obliged, lying on the bed while clenching her daggers under the blanket. Theodore killed his presence before standing next to the door.

Shortly after, the door swung open, revealing 3 assassins wearing black clothes. Theodore brought his sword down, killing one of them by surprise.

The other 2 jumped back, giving Krista time to get up on her bed and get into position. She assessed the enemies. They were around F rank.

'They're much weaker than mom, good' Krista heaved a sigh of relief as she concluded that she would only need to buy time until her mother arrive.

Needless to say, Theodore didn't stand a chance against either of them. Krista wasn't that much better off either. She could maybe bring down one of them, though not before receiving heavy injuries and using most of her trump cards.

However, there were 2 of them. As such, she wouldn't be able to win alone.

[Void skewer], Krista hastily casted. During the last 2 years, she hadn't been slacking off in her training. As such, her [Void skewer] now held immense power. It could even penetrate an F rank monster now.

Under the curtain of the night, the pitch black spell was almost invisible. The assassins, however, sensed mana fluctuation and dodged the spell. One of them, however, rolled aside a bit too late and got his left hand impaled

”I’LL KILL YOU!” he shouted

Theodore then jumped out, keeping the assassins occupied with purely his sword art. The sword art, which Krista hadn't really paid attention to until now, was like a crude dance of death with fast and concise movements, each swings aiming for the opponent’s life. Despite that, he was still struggling quite a bit against the 2 opponents that were ranked higher than him.

Theodore concentrated on the battle while Krista support him from the back.

[Void curtain], Krista casted the spell that blinds the opponent. However, just as the spell was about to land, the assassins let out a burst of mana, cancelling out the spell. Krista then tried to cast the spell again but to no avail.

Every time Theodore was about to get hit, Krista would cast a [Void skewer] to interrupt that assassin's attacks.

Even after 3 minutes, they were still at a stalemate. Theodore, sensing that their mana and stamina would definitely run out before the assassins', signaled Krista to get ready.

"Ready for what?" Krista asked before Theodore abruptly used his [Dimensional] spell, tore the space open and went inside it.

Krista and the assassins stood in daze for a moment.

"Bastard! why did you run away!" Krista shouted.

The assassins, realizing what was going on, broke out in laughter.

"Quite unfortunate for you to have such an unreliable partner, little girl. Now obediently come with us." One of them snickered.

"No!" Krista replied as she continued her assault on the assassins.

She then spent another 2 minutes trading blows with the assassins, barely fending off their attacks. Wound accumulating all over her body.

Having gotten tired, Krista made a slight mistake in her strike. But that was all it took for an assassin to break her posture and made her tumble to the ground.

bzzzzzzt!!—

Just as the assassin was about to knock Krista out with the hilt of his dagger, a crackling sound can be heard from behind him. Immediately after, the assassin fell down with a pale white [Lighting spear] lodged in his heart.

Krista and the remaining assassin looked towards the direction of the spear in shock. What they saw was Theodore, standing at the end of the corridor, looking exhausted as he had just used [Alternate world] to hide for 2 minutes straight before hastily conjuring his [Lightning spear] which took a huge chunk out of his mana reserve.

Although Theodore was exhausted due to using too much mana, his eyes were uncaring and emotionless.

Giving no one time to register what had just happened, Theodore pushed forward despite his exhaustion, attacking the remaining assassin. As he was tired, he was getting pushed back much easier than before.

Krista only woke up from her stupor when the assassin gave Theodore a deep wound on his abdomen. 

'At least tell me what your plans are next time, damn it' Krista cursed in her heart as she ran to aid Theodore.

Despite being assaulted from both sides, the assassin still stood his grounds. He then found a gap in Theodore's and Krista's attacks, using it to lunge towards Krista, aiming for her life. Theodore, sensing that his sister was in danger, poured the rest of his mana in his eyes, amplifying the effect of [C - Magic eyes of fear] to the maximum and directed his gaze to the assassin.

The assassin was petrified with fear for just a moment, but that moment was all Krista needed to pierce his throat with [Void skewer]. As the assassin's corpse fell down to the cold, hard floor, Krista heaved a sigh of relive. Her sigh quickly turned in that of confusion though as she saw Theodore walking towards the corpse and kicking it repeatedly.

'Fuck you! This is what you get for ruining my sleep for the whole fucking month' Krista could almost hear him say that despite him still keeping that emotionless face and not actually saying anything.

After doing that for a few seconds, he suddenly plopped down to the floor, fainting. Worried, Krista ran towards him only to find out that he was just unconscious from mana exhaustion.

'I wish I could rest like him' Krista thought as she still had to stay vigilant. After all, she didn't know the exact numbers of enemies. There could be some making their way towards her at that very moment.

Seeing that Theodore was bleeding pretty badly from his wound, Krista apologized in her heart before ripping off his favorite white shirt and using it as a makeshift bandage to stop his bleeding.

Stopping to catch a breath for a moment, Krista thought about the things that happened in the past month.

'That bastard, he definitely knew this was going to happen'

Despite thinking that, Krista just wished that Theodore would one day trust her enough to tell her about things that he had to shoulder. After all, she wouldn't want him to stay discreet about things like this and resort to that very indirect way of warning her.

Interrupting her thoughts was the sight of Krista's mother, Irene Nightshade, running towards her with her face covered in blood.

'I hope it's not her blood' Krista thought before finally surrendering herself to exhaustion.